Identity Remix Project

I decided to remix the flags from two places I have lived and create a flag that better represents my personal experience with those places. The base of the flag is the Colorado flag where I was born and raised. The second flag is the Albanian flag where I served my mission. Neither of these flags are extremely complex or busy in their nature. But whenever I see both of these flags, I think of several of my own experiences that were full of color and adventure in these locations. So after combining the two core elements of these flags in the program Paint, I decided to go even further and include some other elements that make both of these places special to me using PowerPoint. I was also able to use my copyright knowledge to locate images that are in the public domain during this part of the process.

Thinking about Barney’s reading, I know that my flag had a very different creation process than either of these flags. I used two different programs to make a prototype of my flag while neither of these flags had a computer-based inception when they first created. From my background of growing up in Colorado, I knew that every color was picked to represent something important about the state, with the yellow center being how much sunshine the state receives. I wanted to still pay tribute to the original flag’s creative elements, which was a key idea I gained from Barney’s reading. But I wanted to illustrate that the sun shines everywhere on all people, both in Colorado and Albania. So I kept a yellow circle, but placed it in the top left of the flag to show that its light blesses everything and everyone represented on the flag. I also thought about how my creation process was similar to the originals. I wanted to honor both flags’ original feeling of sparseness and focus on the main elements (the “C” for the Colorado flag and the double-headed eagle for the Albanian flag). While trying to incorporate new ideas that reflect how my personal identity grew and was shaped by experiences I had in these locations, I also tried to not make the flag too busy so that none of the symbols would be lost. Overall, I think this flag represents some of the most important parts of my identity that I have gained from Colorado and Albania and what these places mean to me personally.